Millennial Dialogue Canada Report

8/20/2019 Millennial Dialogue Canada Report

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TheMillennialDialogue

ReportCanada


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methodology

Audiencenet conducted an

initial online survey amongst

1,634 15-34 year old Canadianresidents from March 17-24.

This was followed by a week-

long, moderated, online

dialogue with 40 Canadian

Millennials from March

24-31.

They were segmented as

follows: the politically engaged;

reasonably interested; not that

interested; and the politically

disa ! ected.

The sample was recruited to be

nationally representative of all

Canadian Millennials in terms of:age; geographical region;

household income and

educational attainment levels.

Since the online survey was not a

random, probability based

sample, a margin of error couldnot be calculated. The Marketing

Research and Intelligence

Association prohibits statements

about margins of sampling error

or population estimates with

regard to most online panels

For an equivalent

probability-based r

sample such as thoconducted by phon

interview, the marg

error would be +/- 3

times out of 20.


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Interest &

engagement

with politics


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Most young people in Canada are

happy and optimistic…

82%

Are optimistic about

their future

88%

Are generally happy

with their lives


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…But interest in politics is low

13% said they were “very

interested” in politics

This compares to 16% o

USA millennials who sa

they said they were “ver

interested, and 34% wh

said they were “fairly

interested” in politics

19%

33%

34%

13%

Not at all

interested

Very interested

Fairly

interested

Not that

interested


6/58

Music & new technology top the list

of interests (Net: very interested / fairly interested)

Music

New Technology

Cinema

Using social media

Film

Cooking

Reading

Exercise

Gaming

Festivals

Taking part in sport

Watching sport

Theatre

Politics

Religion

91%

86%

83%

81%

81%

80%

79%

68%

72%

68%

63%

59%

58%

47%

40%

USA millennials also showed strong interest music (93%) & new technology (84%) but were also moreinterested in religion (53%) and politics (47%) than their Canadian counterparts.


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Taking an interest IN politics is also

not seen as being important(Average Rank in order of importance)

1 Being in good health 10 Making money

2 Being happy 11 Taking an interest in music

3 Having leisure time 12 The well-being of society in general

4 Being free to do and say what I want 13 Contributing to society

5 Spending time with family 14 Being connected to friends via socia

6 Equality in society 15 Having my voice heard

7 Helping others 16 Being involved in my local community

8 Spending time with friends 17 Taking an interest in politics

9 Being successful

“Taking an interest in politics” also came lowest among USA millennials


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Of Canadian millennia

feel that their generat

is less interested in

politics than their

parents’ or grandpare

generation, compared

44% of young American

17% of Canadians think

reverse. 22% of young

Americans agree.

49% Generation gap


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“There is more informationout there on a wide range of

topics available at our fingertips via the internet; politics

just isn't interesting enough

most of the time to competewith all these other

interests.”

POLITICS IS STRUGGLING TO COMPETE FO

YOUNG PEOPLE

’

S ATTENTION

“Too many distractions, andto have some basic

understanding of politics forsomeone who doesn't know

where to start requires time

and e ! ort. Time we don'thave and e ! ort we rather use

it for something else.”

“Social networking andtechnology has taken

attention of individualsaway from politics to more

peer politics. People care

too much about fitting inand going to parties to hav

time to care about politics.

When we asked those who thought that their parents’ generation was more interestedpolitics to discuss why, the impact of connected devices and the seemingly unlimited

range of online distractions today was cited several times as a contributing factor.


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Taking part

This compares to 16% who

take part in religious

meetings/events and…

42%

6% Take part in

political meetings

8% Take part in

protests/demonstrations who take part in teamsports

Engagement with politics in the real world is low with just 6% saying that they have

attended a political meeting and 8% who have taken part a protest/demonstration


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Politicians

connecting

with youngpeople


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29% think very few, if an

politicians encourage

people of their age to

involved in politics. Th

is very close to the USAfigure of 30%

28% of Canadian

millennials felt

confident that they and

their peers could make

themselves heard,

compared to 32% in the USA


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% agreeing with statements(Canadian figures given in red, USA in blue)

The views of young

people are largely

ignored by most

politicians

Most politicians are

more concerned with

older people than

younger people

Most politicia

want to cont

and restrict

young people

Most politicians

want the best

possible future

for young people

The views of young

people are greatly

valued by most

politicians

70% (68%)

60% (62%)

45% (54%)

38% (42%)

32% (37%)

26% (31%)

Most politicia

more concern

younger peop

older people

70% of Canadian millennials think

that politiciansignore the views

of young people.68% of USA

millennials agree


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Broken promises emerged as a theme where examples were cited of politicians sayingwould introduce policies that would help younger people but then failing to deliver. Thwas acknowledgement and resignation that focusing policies at helping young people a winning election strategy because the older age groups hold greater influence.

“An example of the political party who failed with a younger

audience was the PQ in Quebec,they made nice promises to

students regarding education

costs in QC. However, once in power, they realized they could

not hold that promise made prior

to elections.”

WHEN POLITICIANS FAIL TO CONNECT

WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

“Successful parties may o ! er a fewtidbits for younger generations bu

fail to deliver in the big picture. Wthe unsuccessful parties may focu

the younger generation but fail to

succeed (e.g. don't get elected at allbecause the older, wealthier

demographic possess greater over

influence.”

“A lot of young people arebecoming cynical and think it is

not worth the time keeping upwith politics and voting, as they

do not believe or trust

politicians and their empty promises.“


15/58

WHEN POLITICIANS SUCCEED IN

CONNECTING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

Almost all of the examples given for when political parties have succeeded inconnecting with young people mentioned the importance of having younger politicians

“The NDP have really beenconnecting with a younger

audience with their younger MPs. It will be interesting to see if that

has paid o ! for them in the next

election. The Conservatives did thesame thing a few years ago. People

are more able to connect with

people their own age.”

“The Liberal party hassucceeded in connecting to a

younger audience when JustTrudeau became leader. He i

someone that younger people

can relate to (age wise) and hbringing up issues that some

young people care about (e.g.

Marijuana).”

“Our mayor here in Edmonton, AB is young. I think he

succeeded in bringing the 18-35crowd out to vote for him with

his focus on the environment,

and funding better publictransportation. I can't think of

anything he said or did o "and

but I know that is what he

campaigned on and he won.”


16/58

Looking to

the future…


17/58

""#

8

84%

83%

82%

78%

78%

77%

74%

72%

71%

68%

68%

65%

64%

59%

New developments in technology and connected devices

Factors affecting future quality of

life (‘Very big e ! ect’ or ‘some e ! ect’)

The economic situation in Canada

The global economic situation

The state of the environment

Decisions made by politicians in Canada

The threat or reality of wars

Development of better transport systems

International political decisions

Crime

Terrorism

International crisis

immigration

Access to education

Further development of the internet and social networking

Decisions made by my local municipality/local authority

Canadian millennialsthink ‘new developments in

technology and connected

devices’ will be the top

factor influencing their

future quality of life.


18/58

18% 11% 11% 11% 11%

10% 10% 8% 5% 4%

‘Politician’ was the least desirable profession in Canada (4%). The same proportion of Americans (4%) want to be a politician but only ‘lawyer’ came lower in the USA at 3%.

Business Owneror Founder

What would they rather be?

FamousCelebrity

Sportsperson Doctor Research Scientist

Musician Writer Academic Lawyer Politician


19/58

Time Travel Activity

|

Canada

We asked the participants to imagine that they could travel 20-30 years in to the

future and describe what they think Canada will be like. The key themes were theimpact of technology, climate change, increased multiculturalism (viewed positively),increased healthcare costs for their parents (the baby boomers).

“In 20-30 years I hope to be(nearly) retired and enjoying

life. Technology will haveevolved and everything will be

connected. Climate change will

be a major issue, as willinternational relations.

Hopefully a new fuel will be

developed to help the

environment.”

“Canada will be struggling financially in the future. We

cannot a ! ord to maintainhealthcare, particularly with the

baby boomer generation and the

healthcare they will require inthe next 20-30 years. Also, there

will be no pension plan for my

generation, so we will have to

rely on our own savings.”

“I hope that Canada is a more progressive, equal, and fair cou

then we are now. Over the past years we have been trending in

wrong direction. We need to se

new direction for Canada. I envCanada as the world leader in

equality, poverty reduction, an

economic and diplomatic

superpower.”


20/58

Time Travel Activity

|

Government

Canadian Millennials were asked to imagine what the Government will be like in 20-30

years. The broad consensus was that they hope (but don’t necessary expect) to see a

more diverse, representative, consultative, transparent and accountable governmen

“The Government willlikely be more

connected to the peopleand a new way of

getting opinions and

instant feedback will bedeveloped.”

“I hope the Governmenthas a more diverse

group of people workingin it, such as females

and younger people.

Right now its mostly just old men.”

“The Government will be moreaccountable for their behavior and

choices due to their increased exposureon the internet. They will listen more to

the people due to the generation gap

shifting and younger people being in political positions of power.”


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Voting


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DECIDING WHO TO VOTE FOR

When we asked the participants what they would do to find out more about a

political party, almost all of them said that they would start with a search onGoogle. They would generally then look at the political party websites,independent media sources and social media accounts.

“I would discuss it if thetopic comes up, but never

proactively. Find outmore information

regarding their platform

and what they stand for. Iwould usually start with

their website.”

“If I want to know moreabout a particular

political party, I usuallywatch their debates on

TV or go to each party's

website to look at their platform.”

“I would certainly talk to my peers aboutit and do some last minute research. To

know more about political parties, I'd probably Google them, and look at both

non-partisan (e.g. Mapleleafweb) and

partisan websites. I'd start withWikipedia probably, just to get some

basic ideas.”


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Key reasons for not

wanting to vote

1No interest in

politics or voting

2They don’t feel

well enough

informed

3Lack of trust in

politicians

4Don’t think their

vote would make a

difference

5All parti

politicia

the sa

Lack of interest in politics came top in both Canada and the USA. lack of trust was

high among American Millennials, while Canadians feel ill-informed.


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Are they currently registered to

vote for the next election?

72%

14%

14%

no

yes

53% Of those who are “not

at all interested in politics” said they are

registered to vote

Don’tknow


25/58

If I knew more

about politics

If I trusted

politicians

more#1 #2

Key factors that might encourage

an interest in voting

Like Canadian millennials, Young Americans identified knowing more a

politics as their #1 factor to encourage interest in voting. They differe

#2, saying they would be more likely to vote if they felt it made a differen


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Factors contributing to voting

decision (‘Great Extent’ or ‘Some Extent)

What I think/know about the leaders of each party

Seeing/hearing interviews with the candidates

News/current affairs on TV

Reading the manifestos

News/current affairs on the radio

Articles in newspapers and magazines

Meeting a political candidate

Online articles / blogs

Meeting a party campaigner / representative

The views of my parents

Information via social networks

The views of my friends

Posters and leaflets

The views of my siblings

87%

86%

85%

80%

79%

77%

75%

73%

71%

70%

66%

66%

65%

62%

59%

What I think/know about the local candidates

YouTube videos

57%

$%&'( )*+,- -.& /&)0&1( +2 &)3. 4)1-5 ')( (&&6 )( -.& 7&5 2)3-+18 9+3%)/ :&0%) )60 +-.&1 +6/%6& 2)3-+1( '&1& 2)%1/5 /+' 0+'6

/%(- )( :%//&66%)/( &;4&3- -.& :)%6 3):4)%?$@ 6&'(4)4&1(@ :)


27/58

34

29

29

24

23

22

Using social media

Getting a well known personality to back your campaign

Concert or festival with talks & bands

Holding a peaceful demonstration

Creating a YouTube video

Handing in a petition to the government

Stickers/posters

Promoting a dedicated app

Holding a disruptive demonstration

Appearing on TV/radio

graffiti

Means they would use to start a

political campaign (%‘extremely useful’)

C2 -.&5 '&1& -+ (-)1- -.&%1 +'6 3):4)%


28/58

Preferred message For encouragin

more younger people to vote…

“ “

Younger people need to vote - it’s their future

“ “

Voting is your responsibility

“ “

Voting really does make a di ! erence

47%

28% 25%


29/58

WHAT WOULD THEY DO DIFFERENTLY?

“Canadian politicians are not veryinteractive on social media. I would like

to see that change, if they want to truly beaccessible. It is di #cult, as social media

in government in general tends to be very

scheduled, and mainly focused on eventsas opposed to creating a conversation.

Posting without interacting with others

removes the "social" aspect of social

media”

“We would not spend millions ofdollars on our campaign. We

would do a grassroots campaignand also rely on the power of the

internet to promote and get our

word out- YouTube, Facebook,Twitter, and a crowdfunding page,

presence in every province, and a

genuine desire to listen to

Canadians.”

“I would just bestraightforward and blun

The reason why people fethat politicians are not

trustworthy is because th

talk around the issue or tdance around the issue. I

that sometimes when we

know the answer, we shou

honest and say we don't k

If the millennials were starting a political party, they would have a strong focus on usin

social media as both a recruitment strategy and to listen and interact (as opposed to jubroadcasting). There was also a popular suggestion that politicians should be honest asay they “don’t know” more often.


30/58

Poster Campaign

The clear consensus was that the communication styleshould be direct and straight-forward with no difficultpolitical technical terms (but not so simple that it

becomes patronising). There were also calls to use

statistics. For example, “Less than 50% of youngpeople vote. Imagine what the future would look like if100% of young people voted.”

When it came to imagery, while there weresuggestions for showing people in schools, hospitals

etc, many of the participants were in favour of doingsomething creative/hip with a limited number ofcolours and bold large fonts rather than having ‘stock’

type images of happy people.

The poster headline ideas were generally very positmessages, here are some more of the top rated sug

Your Future Is Now

Your Vote, Your Voice

#youmatter

All The Cool Kids Are Doin

We asked the Millennials to work together to develop ideas for posters that wouldencourage young people to get engaged with politics.


31/58

The issues

that matter

High Priority for Public Spending


32/58

High Priority for Public Spending

41%

41%

54%

59%

61%

63%

66%

66%

67%

69%

73%

73%

74%

77%

81%

86

Healthcar

Education

Job creation

Poverty

Environment, Food and rural affairs

Energy

Housing

Income support and housing benefits

Science and technology

Emergency services, prisons, justice

transport

Communities and local government

Business, innovation and skills

State pensions

Defense

Foreign aid / international development

Culture media and sport

Healthcare, education and job

creation were considered to be

the top priorities for Canada’s

government spending.

Education and job creation

had similar rankings in the

USA at 84% and 83%

respectively.

There were, however, some

notable di ! erences, USA

millennials put healthcare

at 81%, defense at 67%,

and foreign aid at 48%.


33/58

84% believed in the

importance of equalit

gender and sexual -orientation in society

WHAT SHOULD POLITICIANS WORK TOWARDS? (%)


34/58

WHAT SHOULD POLITICIANS WORK TOWARDS? (%)

To what extent do they deliver on the following?

91

91

90

90

87

62

70

64

67

65

ENSURING THE BEST POSSIBLE FUTURE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

8

84

81

71

62

67

69

68

ENSURING EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITy FOR ALL

IMPROVING AND MAINTAINING GOOD EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES

IMPROVING AND MAINTAINING GOOD MEDICAL CARE

PUTTING THE PEOPLE OF CANADA FIRST

ENSURING THE WELL-BEING OF THE ELDERLY

INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY

ENSURING THAT CANADA PLAYS ITS PART ON THE WORLD

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A STRONG MILITARY FORCE

86% of USA millennials, by contrast felt that politicians should work towards ensuring equali

opportunity for all, while 65% felt that they deliver on this.


35/58

THE ISSUES THAT MATTER:

PLAY THE LONG GAME

When asked to talk about which issues they would concentrate on if they were startingnew political party, one of the main themes running through the discussions was the nto focus on long terms problems/solutions (e.g. the environment, healthcare for an agipopulation).

“I would like to focus on sustainablehealth care, caring for an older

population without impacting the future generations. I would also like our

government to move away from a

resource based economy and looktowards building industries that are

innovative and with more money being

place into sustainability research.”

“My new political party wou focus on trying to keep Cana

a whole "healthy". We need josecurity, retirement plans, h

care. But we also need to keep

natural resources safe and vwe need clean water and air.

Develop new technology that

keeps us green and more self

sustaining.”

“My focus would be inhealthcare, education and

creating jobs/ensuring jobsecurity. I would like my

party to be less business/

money oriented, and focusmore on society and long

term planning.”


36/58

Politicians/ Political parties

Awareness of political parties


37/58

Awareness of political parties

Conservative

party

85% Liberal party

85% Green party

78% 72%BLOC

QUÉBÉCO

82% New

democratic

party

Young Canadians show high awareness of the main

political parties

Which party scores the highest for


38/58

26

16

17

18

8

11

18

14

17

29

23

20

19

22

15

3

2

3

4

11

6

7

8

7

5

15

20

22

13

12

17

16

18

19

21

New Democratic Party Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Bloc QuébécoisGreen Party None of them Don´t know/Other

Which party scores the highest for…

Understanding young people

Being believable in what they say

Being open and honest

Having the right ideas to

improve life in Canada

Having the wrong ideas to

improve life in Canada

Important qualities for


39/58

Important qualities for

an elected politician

86

85%

84%

83%

83%

83%

75%

70%

70%

69%

65%31%

HONESTY

ABILITY TO LISTEN TO OTHERS

INTELLIGENCE

GOOD IN A CRISIS

A STANCE AGAINST CORRUPTION

ETHICS

CARING NATURE

ABILITY TO THINK QUICKLY

AN UNDERSTANDING OF YOUNGER PEOPLE

ABILITY TO BE FIRM

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

ABILITY TO COME ACROSS WELL ON TV & RADIO

NONHPOLITICAL EXPERIENCE

ABILITY TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES

SENSE OF HUMOUR

GOOD LOOKS

Qualities by political party


40/58

5141

51

2540

6053 58

3043

Qualities by political party“To what extent do you think the politicians in each of the political parties possess thisquality?” [Net: a great deal/ to some extent (%)]

5543

51

2944

HONESTY

ABILITY TO LISTEN

TO OTHERS

INTELLIGENCE

46 48 47

25

GOOD IN A CRIS

The New Democratic Party had the highest score for two out of the top four impor

qualities for an elected politician and were tied with the Liberals for a third

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

LIBERAL PARTY

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS

Green Party

Base: those aware of t



41/58

5040

47

2540

4838

47

24

4151

42 47

2539

A STANCE AGAINST

CORRUPTION

ETHICS

CARING NATURE

54 51 53

26

ABILITY TO THINK

QUICKLY

The New Democratic Party was also top for a stance against

corruption, ethics, caring nature and an ability to think quickly

Qualities by political party“To what extent do you think the politicians in each of the political parties possess thisquality?” [Net: a great deal/ to some extent (%)]


CONSERVATIVE PARTY

LIBERAL PARTY

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS

Green Party




42/58

50 53 49

29 34

53 58 55

28 30

4736

49

2439

AN UNDERSTANDING OF

YOUNGER PEOPLE

ABILITY TO BE FIRM

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

49 45 51

ABILITY TO CO

ACROSS WELL O

RADIO

The Conservative Party was thought to be the best party for having an ability

to be firm and political experience. The Liberal party came top for having an

understanding of younger people.

“To what extent do you think the politicians in each of the political parties possess thisquality?” [Net: a great deal/ to some extent (%)]


CONSERVATIVE PARTY

LIBERAL PARTY

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS

Green Party




43/58

35 3140

2

48 44 50

2635 39 33

42

2232

48 47 50

2736

NON!POLITICAL

EXPERIENCE

ABILITY TO KEEP UP

WITH THE LATEST

TECHNOLOGIES

SENSE OF HUMOUR GOOD LOOK

The Liberal Party were also top for non-political experience, an ability to keep u

with the latest technologies and having a sense of humour.

“To what extent do you think the politicians in each of the political parties possess thisquality?” [Net: a great deal/ to some extent (%)]


CONSERVATIVE PARTY

LIBERAL PARTY

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS

Green Party



44/58

Electoral

reform

What would encourage more people


45/58

What would encourage more people

to vote?

If it were possible to vote onlinevia a secure app and/or website

If it were possible to vote at a lot more places such

as in shopping malls, libraries, voting stations onthe street, on trains, at the airport etc.

If it were possible to vote for a longer period oftime i.e. several weeks or months in advance

(% ‘Very significantly encourage…’ or ‘Would go some way to encouraging…’)

89

of the total and 83

of those

“

not at all interested

”

in politics thought that online

voting would encourage more people to vote. There was also support for voting in

precincts, on trains etc 83 ) and moderate support for longer voting periods 68 )

89%

83%

68%

83%

75%

64%

Total

Not at all intereste

in politics

Ability to vote online


46/58

Ability to vote online

89%90%

canadaUSA

Ability to vote in more places


47/58

Ability to vote in more placese.g. Shopping malls, libraries, voting stations on the street, the train, at the airport

83%85%

canadaUSA

Ability to vote in ADVANCE


48/58

By several weeks or months

68%75%

canadaUSA

Should 16 and 17 year olds be given


49/58

the opportunity to vote?

29%

54%

18%

no

yes

36% Of those who were too

young to vote at the last

election said “yes” – 16

and 17 year olds should

be given the opportunit

to vote

Don’t

know

Should 16 17 year olds be able to vote


50/58

Yes No Don’t know

Should 16-17 year olds be able to vote

30% 57% 13%

29% 54% 18%

Should it be made compulsory to


51/58

vote?

34%

54%

12%

no

yes

47% Of Millennials from

Quebec said ‘yes’ -

voting should be madecompulsory

Don’t

know

Should voting be compulsory by law


52/58

Yes No Don’t kno

Should voting be compulsory by law

26% 62% 12%

34% 54% 12%

% of those eligible who have


53/58

registered to vote

USA

70

canada

72

Women in politics


54/58

“The gender balance in politicsis about right”

“There should be a greater proportionof women in politics”

“There should be some all-women shortlists toincrease the number of women in politics”

(% who agree with each statement)

33

and 26

of the females

)

think that the gender balance in politics is about right,

compared to 37 and 45 of the females) who agreed that there should be a greater

proportion of women in politics. There was limited support for all women shortlists 10

)

33%

37%

10%

40%

29%

9%

26%

45%

11%

Tota

Male

Fema

The Gender balance is ‘About right


55/58

33%44%

canadaUSA

There should be a greater


56/58

proportion of women in politics

37%47%

CanadaUSA

There should be some all-women


57/58

shortlists to increase the

proportion of women in politics

10% 12%

canadaUSA


58/58

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Millennial Dialogue Canada Report

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